Feminism and Psychoanalysis

Freud's discovery of the unconscious is centrally linked to the study of female sexuality. In listening to the hysterics, Freud gave them a voice and attributed a meaning to what they said. As Juliet Mitchell noted, feminist movements have tended to equate what Freud said about the hysterics and his other female patients as prescriptions for patriarchal domination of women rather than understanding his writings as an analysis of women's position in patriarchal societies.

Feminist movements, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, were hostile...